Tomba dei Rilievi

The Tomb of the Reliefs is a fourth-century BC family hypogeum in Cerveteri's Banditaccia necropolis. Its walls and pillars carry a painted-stucco array of armour, household objects, animals and figures associated with the underworld, making it an exceptional example of Etruscan funerary decoration.

Why it matters

Many Etruscan chamber tombs evoke a house; this one gives that idea a richly furnished interior. Its decoration preserves the appearance of objects that would have belonged to a household, set within a single underground chamber. The archaeological park describes it as an imposing exception among the fourth-century BC family hypogea of the necropolis.

What to notice

The chamber is about seven and a half metres long, with two pillars bearing Aeolic capitals beneath a ceiling carved to suggest a pitched timber roof. Thirteen loculi are cut into the walls. Stucco reliefs depict armour and weapons alongside domestic objects, including tools, vessels and a gaming board. Animals animate the scenes: geese, a cat confronting a lizard and a marten appear among the objects. At the bases of the beds are protective figures; one serpent-bodied deity is commonly identified as Typhon, with Cerberus nearby.

Context and history

The tomb belongs to the fourth century BC. It was discovered by chance in 1847, according to the descriptive account of the Cerveteri and Tarquinia archaeological sites, and its modern name refers to the stucco figures modelled in relief. A cippus inscription has been associated in scholarship with the Matunas family and a dedicant named Vei Matunas; this reading is not needed to understand the tomb's distinctive decoration. The burial fill helped shield the painted stucco after the necropolis fell out of use.